17. The Werewolf and the Boogeyman
17
The Werewolf and the Boogeyman
Claudette looked up from the cash register when we entered her shop twenty minutes later. Her eyebrows rose.
“Back so soon?” Her gaze danced approvingly over my outfit before landing on Didi and Gavin. Her eyes lost some of their shine as she scanned their attire. “And with friends, no less.”
“Don’t take it personally,” I muttered at Didi’s and Gavin’s expressions.
Didi recovered her composure and pulled out her badge. “We’re here on official Hawthorne & Associates business.”
“When do I get a badge?” Bo panted hopefully.
“When you can pay the rent,” I muttered.
“Ah.” Claudette sobered. “How can I be of assistance?”
I looked around the shop and spotted what I was looking for. “That hoodie.” I pointed to a garment identical to the one the kid had worn in the security footage from Mystical Moments. “I take it it’s from your current season?”
“Of course,” Claudette said with mild affront. “Our stock is always in season.”
“Great, this makes it easy,” Didi said curtly. “We need to know who bought it and when.”
Claudette’s eyes rounded. “What?!” she squeaked.
One of her assistants poked her head out of the workshop.
“Everything okay, ma’am?” the fae asked in a musical voice.
She floated into view, her movements ethereal. The shiny earrings dangling from her ears swung with her every graceful step.
Gavin’s gaze locked on the jewelry. His horns popped out.
“The person we’re looking for was wearing that hoodie,” I explained distractedly.
A thin trail of smoke started curling from Gavin’s nostrils.
“Don’t you dare set anything on fire!” Didi hissed to the dragon newt in a threatening undertone. “The markup on these clothes is ridiculous enough without adding fire damage!”
Gavin listened with half an ear, his expression glazed.
“What’s the matter with him?!” I whispered to Didi.
“Dragon newts love shiny things,” the witch said in a disgusted voice. “It’s their hoarding instinct at work.”
An excited dragon newt was the last thing we needed right now.
Gavin decided to participate in the investigation.
“We’d also like to check your security cameras,” he said, panting in a disturbing way.
Gone was the sweet and shy dragon newt I’d met yesterday.
“Should I go fetch a pail of water?” Bo contributed unhelpfully.
My hangover headache started to get worse.
“Ah, Lana,” Claudette said with the glassy expression of someone determined to ignore the conversation taking place under her nose. “Can you help me go through our sales records?”
The fae met Gavin’s rapt stare. She smiled and bobbed her head in a greeting. The movement made her earrings sparkle alluringly.
Gavin’s tail popped out. Didi stepped on it.
Ten minutes later, Lana found the relevant receipts. There were fifty of them.
The Amberford supernatural community was way more affluent than I’d thought they were.
“Maybe we should split this up.” I wrinkled my brow. “It’ll take a forever to look through the security footage for all those dates.”
“Are you looking for a particular purchase?” Lana asked curiously.
Didi and I shared a hesitant glance.
I shrugged. “No harm in showing them.”
Didi brought up a segment of the security footage from Mystical Moments on her phone.
“That customer bought that particular hoodie three weeks ago,” Lana said promptly. “I remember because he paid in cash.”
The hairs rose on the back of my neck. Either our suspect was loaded or he didn’t want any traces left that could help track him down.
“Let’s take a look at that security footage,” Didi said grimly.
Claudette led us to a back office. Unlike the vintage aesthetic of the shop floor, this room was all modern chrome and glass. Multiple screens showed different angles of the boutique.
Moonlight Couture took its security seriously.
“Let me pull up the archives.” Lana sat at a sleek chair and started working on a computer, her fingers dancing lightly over the keyboard.
My wolf stirred restlessly under my skin as we crowded around the monitor. The moon’s pull was getting stronger by the hour, making my bones ache and my senses keener. I could smell something sweet and sparkly coming off the fae, like honeysuckle and starlight.
I shifted uncomfortably.
Didi shot a frown my way. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I lied.
“Found it,” Lana announced a couple of minutes later.
The footage showed a tall man in an expensive suit examining the hoodie. We stared.
Didi lowered her brows. “He’s not our kid.”
I squinted. “Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s our guy. Same gait. Same telltale hand gestures.”
Gavin nodded.
“But he’s taller,” Didi protested. “And older.”
“He could be a mimic,” Bo huffed.
We looked at him.
Claudette blinked. “He’s right.”
Even Lana looked impressed at my dog’s suggestion.
I raised a hand like I was back in fourth grade. “What’s a mimic?”
“A doppelg?nger.” Gavin was back in control of his senses and looked embarrassed at his recent ungentlemanly display. “They’re also called changelings. They can evolve in any supernatural race.”
Didi narrowed her eyes at the man on the screen. “And they can take on the appearance of anyone they see.”
I digested this information with remarkable self-possession and came to the conclusion that the supernatural world was a scary-ass place.
Gavin stiffened. “There! We can see a close-up of his face in that view.”
Lana froze the shot of the stranger at the till.
We studied the man. He had coarse features with a cruel mouth and thick eyebrows that almost met in the middle of his forehead.
“He looks like a werewolf on a bad hair day,” Bo said. He glanced at me. “Kinda like you that first morning after you turned.”
I pressed my lips together.
“Can you send that to the head of the IT department at Hawthorne & Associates?” Didi asked Claudette. She wrote down the email address on a notepad.
“Sure.”
“Thank you. We appreciate your help.”
“No problem,” Claudette said graciously. She accompanied us to the front door. “By the way, how did the family dinner go yesterday?”
I tensed at her curious stare. “It was alright.”
Claudette’s expression turned sympathetic at the obvious lie. “Let me guess. The pack insisted on giving their opinions on how you and Samuel should consummate your union?”
I couldn’t help but groan at the flashback.
Didi voted for lunch before we returned to the office.
Stake My Shake wasn’t far from the Amberford police station. The diner looked like any other ‘50s-style establishment, complete with chrome fixtures and red vinyl booths. The only hint that something was different was the neon sign in the window that flickered between Stake My Shake and Milk My Shake depending on whether you had supernatural blood or not.
To my surprise, it wasn’t just the staff and the general clientele that gave off distinct otherworldly smells. Several cops eating inside did too.
I tried not to stare at table six as we were led to a booth.
“Those officers are from the supernatural task force,” Didi explained.
The handsome, muscular guy who appeared to be in charge of the group sighed as one of his dragon newt colleagues singed the burger he was eating.
“What exactly does a supernatural task force do?” I asked carefully.
“They handle nonhuman community crimes and infractions,” Gavin explained.
I arched an eyebrow. “Like?”
“Like that time a troll tried to set up residence under the Third Street bridge,” Gavin said.
“Or when someone reported a dragon newt doing loops around the water tower.” Didi shot Gavin a pointed look.
He flushed. “That was one time! And I’d just discovered energy drinks.”
I recalled the Third Bridge underpass being closed for a couple of weeks last summer. “That was a troll?”
“Yeah.”
Bo and I traded a troubled look.
“Aren’t trolls giant monsters that eat people?” I asked uneasily.
“And dogs?” Bo quavered.
“You guys are thinking of orcs,” Didi said dismissively. “They don’t exist.”
Bo and I both breathed a sigh of relief. That was one less terrifying creature to strike off our list of monsters we never wanted to meet.
“Trolls are harmless,” Gavin explained. “They’re big softies actually. And vegetarian. They can even grow mushrooms on their own?—”
Our waitress appeared. She was a perky blonde with slightly pointed ears who introduced herself as Sunshine.
“Let me guess,” I whispered while Sunshine cooed over what a pretty boy Bo was. “Fairy?”
“Pixie,” Didi corrected. “You can tell by the wing shimmer.”
I squinted but couldn’t see any wings.
“They’re glamoured,” Gavin said. “Health code regulations for catering businesses.”
Sunshine recommended the dragon-friendly crab special with extra hot sauce and something called Moonshine Milkshakes. Bo perked up at the mention of the shakes.
“What’s in them?” I asked warily.
“Nothing illegal.” Sunshine beamed. “Just a little fairy dust for extra zing. Your dog will love it.”
A thought occurred to me as we waited for our food.
“Does turning a human into a werewolf count as a crime?”
Didi exchanged a cautious look with Gavin. “Technically, yes.”
“But no one is gonna go after the Hawthornes,” Gavin said hastily at my expression. “Besides, the penalty Samuel and Victoria impose on their pack members for breaking supernatural laws is often harsher than what local enforcement would do.”
I started feeling a little sorry for Hugh. But only a little.
Lunch was an enjoyable affair despite Gavin accidentally setting his napkin on fire halfway through the meal and me canceling Bo’s order of a Moonshine Milkshake when we saw a guy at the counter start floating after one sip of his.
My dog burped and licked his chops as we exited the diner. “What’s on the agenda for the afternoon?”
Didi checked her watch. “We should pay Nigel a visit. He’s probably seen the video footage from Moonlight Couture by now.”
Bo’s ears drooped a little. “That sounds about as much fun as going to the vet.”
I grimaced. “You mean the boogeyman is our head of IT?”
“He’s a nice guy,” Gavin said as we climbed into Didi’s BMW. “Amazing with technology despite his terrifying appearance.” The dragon newt paused. “Also, he radiates light when he’s excited, so try not to, er, stimulate him too much.”
The prospect of stimulating a boogeyman was right there at the very bottom of the list of things I wouldn’t be caught dead doing.
The moon’s influence was even stronger when we reached the office. We passed several restless werewolves in the lobby and in the elevator. Bo whined softly and pressed against my leg at the hints of amber in their eyes.
Even Janet looked tense as she chatted with a translucent Mindy by the copy machine when we emerged on the fifth floor, her foot tapping a nervous beat on the floor.
Didi led us down a corridor I hadn’t noticed yesterday and stopped at a door marked IT Department .
“Isn’t this a janitor’s closet?” I said warily.
“It is,” Didi said breezily. “Nigel likes confined spaces. Says they make him feel secure.”
I was wondering whether that was why boogeymen liked to lurk under beds and inside wardrobes when the witch issued a terse warning.
“Remember,” Didi said, “no sudden movements. He scares easily. And whatever you do, don’t mention his tentacles.”
“Don’t move, don’t talk,” Bo mumbled. “Gotcha.”
She knocked. A muffled voice answered. “Come in.”
Didi opened the door. The narrow office space beyond was dark except for the glow of multiple monitors. A figure hunched in the shadows.
My gaze rose. Bo stared, equally transfixed.
The shadowy figure’s head brushed the ceiling.
I caught a glimpse of purple fur, tentacles, multiple eyes, and a bevy of mouths with sharp teeth before the shadows shrank and took on the shape of a slender human.
“Holy tenta—!” Bo gasped. I muzzled him with my hand.
“Hi, Nigel,” Gavin greeted cheerfully.
“We need your help with that footage we had forwarded to you from Moonlight Couture,” Didi said briskly.
“Oh. I was wondering what that was about.”
I blinked, still reliving that split second of bladder-loosening horror at Nigel’s true form. His voice was surprisingly sweet.
He moved in the gloom. There was a click. A light came on.
I stared at a quiet-looking young man with glasses.
“He-hello,” Nigel stammered nervously. A tiny tentacle sprouted from his left ear and waved. He grabbed it and pushed it back inside his body.
“Er, hi.”
Bo wagged his tail hesitantly. “You smell like grape soda.”
Nigel blinked. “Thank you. I think?”